Building the next generation of AH2 sticks

[guncrasher]

Fugitive, this is classic failure.

This game is driving into the gutter and your answer is so typical, 'everything is fine and by the way they are smarter than everyone else.'

We are losing players in droves,

omg, i just realized that I volunteer for alpha testing and by the time the new game is realized I maybe the only player left.  we losing players in droves...  damn that's a lot of players.  how many you think?  20, 30 a day?  oh wait a minute did you have your exaggeration font on?  I havent installed that one yet and I cant tell.

dude, not sure if you can comprehend but hitech doesnt think the game is fine the way it is.  neither does skuzzy and I bet neither does the rest of their team.  and most of us dont think the game is so cool that no changes are needed.

but mention that the game is going into the gutter, well I got here I think 7 or 8 years ago and I have been hearing the same thing.  mostly from the same people who want to be the "hero that saves the game".  or who have so much experience that warren buffet wont make a move without consulting them.

sorry but I dont have sarcastic font installed either.  


semp

[Ratsy]

It is not.

I don't have the answers to the examples I gave as critical questions.  With respect, if anyone has those answers, based on your extra efforts with the stats, it's you.

I really never hear the observation that the broader culture in which Aces High exists is changing. Western culture is or has been increasingly results-focussed and time restricted. This will inevitably announce here too. It's not surprising that a growing percentage use ack to solve their ACM problems, for instance.

This is a really good point and it's possible that what we are seeing, in part, is the announcement you mention.  However, Flak Bunnies are a reality in every air combat game I've played.  When I was a newbie, I got some great advice from an ex-WarBirder, "First learn how to live...then learn learn how to fight".  So I understand Flak Bunnies as a phase.

As time passed us old dweebs were gradually suplanted by new dweebs. Without the indoctrination that we had, they have a different perspective. And we cant fault them for it. Why wouldn't they have the perspective that the ma is a war? And why wouldn't their objective be to win? So for the new flight/war sim virgin just coming to AH his priority is going to be to get better at winning the war, not necesarily to get better at dogfighting. If he is in a fighter he is doing air to ground. At any given time in the ma now I bet the majority of fighters in the air are jabos. If you made a mission in the ma today that didnt have some kind of air to ground element in it, a new player would look at it and think, "why".

This is why we ask critical questions in analysis.  Risk and reward are prime motivators, as Floob points out.  And and this helps answer my original question.

They should utilize the depth of "free" talent to help with certain aspects of the game, (I am thinking of new planes, but there are other areas) to do the grunt work, and oversee the results to bring it to the standard that they desire. This would free them up to see the "bigger picture" and act accordingly.

HiTech, historically, has reached out to the community, discretely, to help move the rock.  It is also correct here to acknowledge the craftsmanship of our community of skinners, map makers, and statisticians.

Maybe its time to add the "Top Squad" to the scoresheet at the end of the month. Don't list the top "fighter" squad, or the top "bomber" squad, list only the top all around squad. Generate squad competition, generate squad training so those squads work together to excel at that competition, generate competition between squads to find, train new players into their ranks. Bring back the competition into the game instead of the running around trying to get as many kills as you can.

This is a very interesting idea.  It's overdue.  We keep statistics for squadrons already.  The roll ups and presentation would be the only work, perhaps.

Aces High 2 is not just a game I play. To us younger players, the friends we made here are almost family...

No. This game is something else...

It is a community, but a magical one...
 
It would be fair to say that many of us grew up WITH this game...

I am 20 now. I was 13 when I started playing this game. The idea of it dying is intolerable to me.  

You can't argue with honest emotion can you?  You are not alone in your continuous subscription.  I pay for mine and my son's.  I know there are many others that continue to pay even when their personal circumstances won't allow them to play often.

I can't keep up with this thread!  There are too many great points being made here.

Carry on.

 

[DrBone1]

I find that the biggest problem is the subscription system. Quite ironically I have been paying my subscription even though I have been inactive.

The reason? Aces High 2 is not just a game I play. To us younger players, the friends we made here are almost family.

My best friend on this game. Scott (aka 1sum41). Is now a married man in the army. I chat to him all the time, my fiance knows his wife etc.etc. All of that just because of a stupid flight simulator we played as teenagers? No. This game is something else.

It is a community, but a magical one. I am pretty sure lots of people remember my first forays into this game many a year ago. Squeaking shrilly and enthusiastically as I horammed an F6F for vulching me. Or my incoherent high pitched Australian rants on range vox. The squelch button saw liberal use on my gamer ID.

It would be fair to say that many of us grew up WITH this game. Joachim, GhostCDB, Myself, 1sum41, 800nate and the ever infamous NathBDP.

I am 20 now. I was 13 when I started playing this game. The idea of it dying is intolerable to me. 

I miss you Pacman!

I will always remember the times me you and RedBull shared together on those late nights! 

[Tinkles]

 I can see the OP's reasoning and requests for change.  Changes HTC has made in the past were to shape behavior of players. Some worked and some did not like any experiment.
  There is a wish list forum and General discussion where many have voiced their displeasure over the 12hr rule ect. HTC has looked at those issues and made THIER decision which SOME don't agree with.
  
   Your experience with the cultures of groups is quite right.
   Did it not often come down to Leadership?

   HTC has shown strong leadership in not letting the a MOB rule this game.

   Many of the players who actions some find undesirable are in Squads, where is the leadership?

   I think it is human nature to focus on the negative which causes them to forget the good stuff that happens every day in this game. I see and exchange salutes with players every time I play.

   I admit some days are tough when a country is being rolled due to a #s imbalance and you feel overwhelmed and frustrated. It's up to you to change tactics to find your fun in the sandbox.  

Bingo

[guncrasher]

I miss you Pacman!

I will always remember the times me you and RedBull shared together on those late nights! 

dude that's kind of private dont you think?


semp

[Dragon]

omg, i just realized that I volunteer for alpha testing and by the time the new game is realized I maybe the only player left.  we losing players in droves...  damn that's a lot of players.  how many you think?  20, 30 a day?  oh wait a minute did you have your exaggeration font on?  I havent installed that one yet and I cant tell.

dude, not sure if you can comprehend but hitech doesnt think the game is fine the way it is.  neither does skuzzy and I bet neither does the rest of their team.  and most of us dont think the game is so cool that no changes are needed.

but mention that the game is going into the gutter, well I got here I think 7 or 8 years ago and I have been hearing the same thing.  mostly from the same people who want to be the "hero that saves the game".  or who have so much experience that warren buffet wont make a move without consulting them.

sorry but I dont have sarcastic font installed either.  


semp

+1

[TWC_Angel]

I find that the biggest problem is the subscription system. Quite ironically I have been paying my subscription even though I have been inactive.

The reason? Aces High 2 is not just a game I play. To us younger players, the friends we made here are almost family.

My best friend on this game. Scott (aka 1sum41). Is now a married man in the army. I chat to him all the time, my fiance knows his wife etc.etc. All of that just because of a stupid flight simulator we played as teenagers? No. This game is something else.

It is a community, but a magical one. I am pretty sure lots of people remember my first forays into this game many a year ago. Squeaking shrilly and enthusiastically as I horammed an F6F for vulching me. Or my incoherent high pitched Australian rants on range vox. The squelch button saw liberal use on my gamer ID.

It would be fair to say that many of us grew up WITH this game. Joachim, GhostCDB, Myself, 1sum41, 800nate and the ever infamous NathBDP.

I am 20 now. I was 13 when I started playing this game. The idea of it dying is intolerable to me. 

^ This is truth.
I began when i was just turning 16 ('03) Aces High became a piece of my teenage life.
There had never been a time when i believed AH would "die", simply because the thought was foreign to me.
However 11 years later I can see indeed the numbers decline and MA atmosphere deteriorate. It has been described
enough in the previous posts -at length-so i have no need repeat what someone else has wrote quite competently.

If HTC ever goes under and i (we) loose my (our) beloved sand-boxed virtual sky, it would be very much akin to loosing a close friend.
Maybe not everyone would feel so extreme a loss...but as I and other younger players (though im 27 now) have stated, we "grew up" with it.

I pray, HTC takes heed and does something.  Shiny new sparkly band-aid will not help a broken neck.

      

[Zerstorer]

dude that's kind of private dont you think?


semp

Hey man....what happens in AH stays in AH. 

[nrshida]

omg, i just realized that I volunteer for alpha testing and by the time the new game is realized I maybe the only player left.

When did you last see a squeeker in Aces High? Used to be a flock of those every summer. I think more than two years since I heard one.

[Meatwad]

I heard one last night

[Stampf]

When did you last see a squeeker in Aces High? Used to be a flock of those every summer. I think more than two years since I heard one.

 

There used to be as many squeeker threads as there were Perk the La7 ones.   

Two teenagers walking down the street -

"If a plane crashes in Aces High and no one is online to hear it...does it make a sound?"

"lol man, lol...good one."

[Lusche]

When did you last see a squeeker in Aces High? Used to be a flock of those every summer. I think more than two years since I heard one.

Once the help channel was full of squeekers, not looking for help but using it to chat with each other... not even knowing they were enemies to each other
There was a constant parade of squeeker missions... "JOIN MISSUN", mostly consisting of a wild assortment of planes (like Arados escorted by Hurricane I's), with all having their fuel set either at 25% or 100%. And you better not dared to point out some possible problems with that 
There wasn't even a ton of new players around, but they always seemed to be eager to run (& promote) their own MISSUNZ


Long gone those days are...

[Coalcat1]

I think there are 4 or 5 of us squeakerz left...    but oh well, all are skilled except 1...

[GhostCDB]

I find that the biggest problem is the subscription system. Quite ironically I have been paying my subscription even though I have been inactive.

The reason? Aces High 2 is not just a game I play. To us younger players, the friends we made here are almost family.

My best friend on this game. Scott (aka 1sum41). Is now a married man in the army. I chat to him all the time, my fiance knows his wife etc.etc. All of that just because of a stupid flight simulator we played as teenagers? No. This game is something else.

It is a community, but a magical one. I am pretty sure lots of people remember my first forays into this game many a year ago. Squeaking shrilly and enthusiastically as I horammed an F6F for vulching me. Or my incoherent high pitched Australian rants on range vox. The squelch button saw liberal use on my gamer ID.

It would be fair to say that many of us grew up WITH this game. Joachim, GhostCDB, Myself, 1sum41, 800nate and the ever infamous NathBDP.

I am 20 now. I was 13 when I started playing this game. The idea of it dying is intolerable to me. 

I grew up in the game with B6Pacman as my first sparing partner. The group we group up with in the game couldn't handle us, I guess we were a little better than they were therefore we were never on the same team in the DA. These were the great times, I was 12 when I met B6Pacman, Ruler2, Trinity, etc etc. We even had a squadron full of squeekers! To this day I am only able to speak with Pacman and Ruler and I hate that I can't come in contact with the others that I grew up playing and training with.

A few years after everyone sorta left, I met Spektor and Krupnski. They became really good friends. I don't talk to Spek anymore but I have Krupnski's number and we talk every once in awhile. After them I met DrBone, Joachim, and RedBull all in a KOTH. DrBone saw something in me other "adults" couldn't and he began to train me. I was VERY arrogant and naïve before DrBone got a hold of me. I was a kid and made A LOT of terrible mistakes but Bone guided me in the right direction and he helped me mature not only in-game but in real life. The things he taught me in a VIDEO GAME carried over to real life. Honestly I don't think I would be where I am today if I never met DrBone.

So I agree with Pacman, I don't think its just a game really. I mean sure it is, but the people in-game are real and they have the ability to have POSITIVE or NEGATIVE effects on you. It all depends on how you let the game affect you.

Now I am flying with TripWire, Flyman92, and Poison. Although I am the oldest of us it is the ONLY reason I am still in the game every so often. I am also in Top Gun with people that I have been flying with for a couple years now. I don't think I will "leave" the game for good for a long time, not as long as I have Top Gun/JG52.

[GhostCDB]

I think there are 4 or 5 of us squeakerz left...    but oh well, all are skilled except 1...

The great squeekers of Aces High played in 07-08.

I was apart of the "great squeekers", I still have films from back then.

When did you last see a squeeker in Aces High? Used to be a flock of those every summer. I think more than two years since I heard one.

They are going extinct.